Kyle Morton at Sixth and I – Kyle Morton’s (of Typhoon) solo album is superb so I was pleased when he did a small, acoustic tour to support it. Appropriately enough, the DC venue was the basement of Sixth and I, which is the same spot where I saw Typhoon for the first time. The dude singer from San Fermin opened (he also has a new solo album). It was a short and sweet opening set. Kyle played a mix of his solo songs and Typhoon songs. Much as I love his solo album, the later were more exciting because it was such a contrast to hear a solo, acoustic version of songs from a band with 11 people in it. Talk about a night and day difference. So that was great, despite him not playing my favorite Typhoon song (cue a sad trombone from the horn section of Typhoon). Kyle’s wife (also a good musician from the band Wild Ones) joined him on stage for a cover of John Prine’s “In Spite of Ourselves,” which was one of the other highlights of the show.

The Relationship at Valley Bar – I was in Phoenix for work in February and Brian Bell’s side project played a free show two blocks from my hotel. So, that was convenient for me. The set up was random – The Relationship was in the middle of a small tour with Warbly Jets but this show was billed as The Relationship, Warbly Jets, and an indy rock dance party. I figured the dance party would be at the end, but somehow the ordering went dance party, the Relationship, then the Warbly Jets (who I thought was the opening band for the tour). That actually worked out well for me, as I had an early flight the following morning so I left after the Relationship. And I got to witness some awkward, too-early-in-the-night-to-be-having-a-dance-party dancing. I was approx. one of two people in the crowd who seemed to have any idea who the Relationship was. Most people seemed to be there for the dance party. So the vibe all around was weird, but the Relationship’s set was still enjoyable – pretty identical to their two SXSW sets that I caught in Austin. And now they are in the lead for the band that I’ve seen the most in 2017 at 3 shows.

Japandroids at 9:30 Club – Craig Finn opened and was relatively boring, because he’s Craig Finn (sorry not sorry, Hold Steady fans). But Japandroids were the most rollicking two person live show that I’ve seen. They kicked things off with “Near to the Wild Heart of Life” and played most of their last two albums, which is clearly an amazing setlist. Seeing “The House That Heaven Built” live was clearly a highlight of the year so far. Craig Finn was marginally less boring when he joined Japandroids for a cover of the Saints’ “I’m Stranded.”

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